Frayed Ropes
by OnyxHarmony
Summary: Zane is alive! Back safe on the ship after the battle of the Corridor of Elders, Zane has slowly been confining himself in his room with Pixal. Deity has been missing her brother for some time..he hasn't spoken to her-or come out of his room very often for six months. Despite respecting her brother's boundaries-six months is a little excessive to ignore your family. ( Canon to AU)
1. Broken Promises

Zane slowly lifted his head after a lengthy session of updating Pixal, watching his metal form in the mirror. He grimaced, shaking his head. "I am..not fond of this. But I am alive.." That was good, right? He had survived his explosion and exile. A soft voice echoes in his mind. _'_ _ **It has been eight months since you were rebuilt, Zane. It has been approximately six months since the battle at the Corridor of Elders. Thank you for helping me update my systems.'**_ Six months..he'd spent a lot of time with her in his room, hadn't he? He'd only come out occasionally for his turn to cook. But..Deity had been rather silent to him lately. She wouldn't eat what he cooked. Was she ill? Another soft echo from Pixal. _'_ _ **Zane, perhaps you should go speak with her. You have been rather..attached to me for six months. And while I am grateful for your company, Deity's serotonin levels are dangerously low-much more so than they were during our time on the island. She does not verbally respond to you anymore. Did you not have a very important bond with your sister?'**_ The ice droid shivered when he saw himself in the mirror again. _**'Are you alright, Zane? There was a sharp decrease in your mood.'**_ He shook his head and forced himself to smile. "I..will be fine." Pixal knew this was a lie-but she did not question it. Zane rubbed his face, slowly tugging his bedroom door open and turning the light out. As he left, he paused. Should..he bother her this late? He glanced at the time on his internal monitor. Three in the morning..perhaps she'd fallen into a sleep forced by her being exhausted?

Pixal shook her head on his internal screen, as if to signify that was wishful thinking on his part. Zane slowly made his way down the hall and thought about it. He'd been..rather neglectful of his little sister. Perhaps not the smartest thing he's ever done. Making his way to Cole and Deity's room, Zane carefully opened the unlocked door and peeked inside. "...Deity? Are you awake Nightingale?" Zane's voice is quiet..he's scared to bother her-he'd neglected her for six months, so Zane was a little afraid of her response to him suddenly speaking to her. Zane knew Deity often relied on him to fall asleep sometimes-and in general just enjoyed her brother's company. Deity visibly flinches when she hears her nickname-the one just for Zane's use only, resonate in the new metallic voice of the droid. But nothing else. She doesn't respond in the slightest to Zane's quiet attempts to get her attention. Deity's eyes are seemingly interested in elsewhere on the ceiling. "Deity I.." Zane hesitantly continues, trying again. She doesn't even move this time. "Please..?" Deity slowly turns over and leans into Cole, lifting one of his arms and draping it over her side. She tugged the blanket over her head and went still again. Zane sighed, slowly closing the door. He messed up. Bad. Usually she..would at least respond to him in some manner if she wasn't upset. Slowly closing the door, Zane began silently heading out of the ship. Deity wasn't talking to him. He deserved that.

Deity slowly awoke that next morning, feeling herself trapped in Cole's arms. She didn't remember when exactly she'd fallen asleep-but she knew she was missing a chunk of time. Cole gave her a slow, gentle squeeze. "Deity...You awake?" Deity was half under Cole, and she was wheezing a little. "Ye..Yes." Cole peeked one eye open and looked down at his girlfriend. "Am I crushing you again?" He lifted his body up and away from her, ruffling her hair a little. "Sorry, Songbird. I know I'm a bit bigger than you." Cole sat up, stretching and watching his girlfriend of six and a half years. "Hey.." Cole tugged her up. She wasn't really responsive. "You alright?" Deity felt her chin being lifted, and she looked up at Cole. "Hmm? Yeah, I'm fine. I mean, I..I don't sleep a lot, you know." Cole nodded a little and stroked her cheek, over her scar. She didn't shiver anymore when he did that. "Just remember you can tell me stuff, I mean.." The master of earth rubbed the back of his neck. "I..I don't want you to bottle stuff up and then Zane finds you again.." She bristled slightly at the mention of the droid, taking a breath to relax and get out of bed. "I don't think Zane needs to be bothered with such a thing. Besides he's..catching up with Pixal." She stretched and went off to their bathroom to change, coming out in her sparring top and shorts. "Maybe Kai is awake enough and we can spar after breakfast." Heading out of the room and into the kitchen, she walked past the table and opened the fridge.

Jay came into the kitchen after his sister, rubbing his eyes and tugging a box of Zap Puffs out of the cabinet. He gently shook the box, frowning. "Aw man..we forgot to grab cereal on our resupply mission! Zane, we're out of.." The lightning elemental paused, turning around to look near the stove. "Deity, Zane isn't here-" He frowned when the song elemental didn't respond, and kept raiding the fridge. "Deity, can you hear me?" The cyborg slowly lifted her head from the door of the fridge with a cheese stick in her mouth. She rose an eyebrow. _"And..?"_ Jay frowned and lifted a note and some cash from the kitchen table. Jay read the note silently to himself, his eyes slowly widening. "Deity, Zane is gONE-!" The lightning elemental's voice cracked with worry. Deity's facial expression gained a look of disbelief, until Jay handed her the note. Deity read over it. **'I've prepared the meals for the week, and there's money underneath this note just in case you want extra ingredients (takeout). -Zane.'** Deity gripped the note for a second and looked around the kitchen. She bolted from the kitchen and headed down the hall, bumping past Kai and nearly knocking him down. Deity opened Zane's room and looked around it. Empty. Everything was the same-but Zane wasn't there. Probably went to go spend more time with Pixal. She thought Pixal was good for her brother, truly. But..he seemed to want to spend more time with her, and had seemingly cut Deity out of his life. She tossed the crumpled up note on his bed, slamming the door to the ice droid's room.

"Jay, if he was gone, he would've packed or something." She rolled her eyes and sat back down at the kitchen table, eating her breakfast. A week passed, and Zane hadn't..come back. Deity didn't think much of it..until he hadn't come back for a full month. She made sure Cole was asleep, slowly slipping out of bed and swiping Cole's bike keys. She paused when her prosthetic leg groaned slightly, she had trained pretty hard the day before, so the material it was made from was a little stressed. Looking over at Cole, Deity rolled her eyes. He was still snoring away. She walked over and pressed a brief kiss to his forehead, tugging the blanket over him. Deity tiredly changed into her lavender ninja suit, leaving the room and heading down to the vehicle bay. They were parked close enough to the street..so Deity tugged her helmet on, unlatched the bay doors and revved the bike, speeding off down the street below. Zane was missing. Was it her fault..? The familiar feeling of heartache and despair bubbled up inside her. The same one that had come to stay after her beloved ice wielding brother had passed away, and gone missing. He was..fine, right? She kept her body down against the bike as she drove, making sure to keep her eyes on the road. Deity seemed to look everywhere, exhausted gaze watching the road ahead of her. No don't fall asleep, come on body! She seemed to be pleading with her body as the sun rose on the horizon-and another painful pang went through her. Zane loved the sunrise. He'd once described it to her early one morning when she was still blind and had slept over because she'd stayed in the ship too late one night-before she moved in and started her relationship with Cole.

It had been by no means a literal-or very scientific description, but it was very.. Zane. She'd walked out to the deck with him-feeling her way along with her bare feet and her hearing, and sat down with him. It was surely a rare moment for the particularly grumpy droid. _"The sunrise is a warm reminder that we have survived another battle. Another fight."_ He said, handing her a mug of tea. It had taken her a moment to grasp it, Zane had handed it off to her right side. _"A blend of light reds and oranges-sometimes ever changing, never the same amount. A reminder that every day will be different. Warm and vibrant, like the people in our lives. The people we cannot go another sunrise without."_ The droid had been silent after that..but Deity hadn't known he was a droid then. He sounded human to her-and she'd continued to treat him as such ever since-even when he gave her the tea to regain her sight. Deity sped along the road, forcing herself to stay awake. "Gotta find..Ice Cube.." Her eyes went half lidded for a moment-then she forcibly shook her head and tried to focus. Now was about the time she slipped into a bout of sleep she couldn't control. Usually. But she was driving! She couldn't fall asleep. Bleary eyed, Deity watched the scenery on the side of the road turn to sand. "Fuck.." Deity tended to curse a little bit when she was tired. "How long have I been driving..?" Was she in the Sea of Sand? She shook her head to try and clear it, veering to the side a little on the road from lack of control due to fatigue. "Zane, can you hear me?" She tried the com link in Cole's bike. Nothing. Maybe he turned it off..or it was damaged.

Deity shivered and tensed, steadying the bike again. If Zane had been off with Pixal this long..no! No Zane wouldn't just up and leave without any explanation..not for this long..unless he'd been kidnapped. Or..he needed to be alone. The tired haze over her mind made her think of how she'd ignored his attempts to speak to her a month ago-when he'd finally tried. She'd been upset-she felt left behind and neglected by Zane. Her brother had promised to always be there to talk-or if she couldn't sleep..most nights his door was shut and all was silent inside-not even the faint hum of his projection program running-so she'd assumed he was either asleep or talking to Pixal silently in his head. When he'd come out to cook-he hadn't even spoke to her, despite her trying to talk to him. Maybe it was her fault, she thought as she tried her best to keep Cole's bike steady under her. Maybe it was a little of both of their faults. Deity's eyes felt so..heavy. She'd been up for over ten hours-counting the day before, and last night. "Need to..stay awake..find Zane.." She felt her body jolt-as if she'd stopped herself from falling. Realizing she was losing control of the bike-and that she was falling asleep while driving, Deity did her best to apply pressure to both the front and back brake of the bike evenly. This worked as well as could be expected-due to the weak pressure on both from being tired. Shifting the bike sideways, Deity kept control just long enough thanks to the brief adrenaline boost from crashing, and skidded off the pavement, losing control of the bike as it hit the sand. A brief thought slipped into her head as the bike hit a rock in the sand and she fell off the bike forwards, headed for the ground.

 _ **"At least sand is soft."**_


	2. Damaged Bonds

Zane slowly stared ahead at the swirling sands being blown around by the wind. He'd been sitting here for over a month, and he was...sorry. He'd broken a heavy, lifelong promise to his little sister. The only being who consistently referred to him as.. **human**. Sand covered up the top of his legs as he sat, and he watched the horizon with dim blue eyes. The soft voice of the other half of his heart broke the silence again-Pixal had been attempting to reason with him. **_'Zane, you have been sitting here for thirty-one days. Should you not try and go home? What would Deity think? Do you not think she misses you?'_** Silence for a while. Zane didn't want to respond-he'd been ignoring her pleas to go home for a while now, but his run down, metallic and tired voice gave her an answer. "No..I do not think she does." Pixal frowned, trying to reassure Zane that he was wrong. Until she noticed Zane going silent. Perhaps he was resting? Meanwhile, inside Zane's head:

 **'System overheat detected.**

 **System mandatory Shutdown Commence.**

 **System mandatory Shutdown affirmative? [Y/N]**

 **Shutdown commence automatically in 60..59..58..**

 **System Shutting Down...'**

The droid's body slowly relaxed as his systems shut down, dim blue optics flickering and shutting off.

Deity grunted as she slowly awoke-someone was gently nudging her. Lazily opening her eyes, she watched the worried woman before her. A light blue woman with vibrant blonde hair, dyed parts and red serpentine pupils. But she wasn't being attacked. Deity felt a gentle hand examining the stump on her right side-wait, stump? She looked down and wiggled the stump, sighing. "Great. Jay has to fix that again." She lifted her gaze to the confused snake woman, watching her. Her soft spoken voice was dull against Deity's ears-she was a little disoriented from the crash. "Are..you alright? Your arm it's.." The woman gestured to the stump, then looked at Deity's left leg. She slowly turned pale, and Deity followed her gaze. "Huh. It's a little bent, isn't it?" The blue skinned woman seemed confused at Deity's reaction. "My name is Luna..are you in shock, miss?" Deity chuckled weakly and shook her head. "Nah, nah they're prosthetics, blueberry." She seemed to slur a bit as she sat up, taking a deep breath. "Good...breathing doesn't hurt. No broken ribs or cracked ones." Shaking her head as she tried to stand, Deity nearly fell, feeling Luna catch her from behind. "Hn..Guess I can't walk as well as I thought. Gotta get to Zane.." Luna frowned and propped Deity up against her, putting the cyborg's left arm around her shoulders. "Zane can wait, I'm sure he's fine." Deity liked how..concerned this woman sounded. "You were bitten, right?" A smile graced Deity's scratched up features. "It's alright. Blue kinda suits you."

"Sorry, I'm a bit nice all the time." Deity said as they began to walk away from the crash. "Cole's bike is trashed, I can't walk to find Zane, and.." She sighed a little and silently walked with Luna. "How quick can you patch me up? I don't care about the arm, but can you straighten my leg out..? The scratches will heal, I promise." It takes some time, but Luna manages to clean the scratches on Deity's face, and tries her best to bend the leg to a walk-able angle. Deity gently pats Luna's hand, smiling just a bit. "Thank you, really. It's nice to know there are still kind people left, you know?" Deity rubbed the back of her neck, sighing when Luna asked if she would be okay-since her only means of transportation was smashed. "I mean, I can walk..I've got some food in my pack somewhere. I'll get ahold of Cole somehow-though after six and a half years together, I'd think he'd stop worrying so much about me..probably not." A smile crept into her face. "He's real sweet, y'know?" She patted Luna's arm. "Feel free to stop by the ship when this is all sorted and we can hang out. And I'll ah..explain what all happened to me." Deity vaguely gestured to her limbs and eye. Limping off into the sands, she took a breath and went off to find her brother. She slipped out of Luna's line of sight and shakily made her way through the desert.

It took a while-a day or two, actually-to reach Zane. Deity had to keep stopping so she could adjust her leg, and eat. Her heart began to sink in her chest when she saw her mostly sand covered brother, shut down in the sand. Empty eyes stared into the horizon as the scratched up, sad looking droid stayed stationary. "Zane..?" Deity limped forward, kneeling down and dusting the sand away from his chest panel. "Aw man, what did you do to yourself..?" Prying open the metal access panel, Deity felt around in the wires for the small switch next to his power source. She was careful-she didn't want to pry any wires loose. Flipping the switch, Deity watched the droid power on and he slowly glanced at his sister. Why was she here? "Hm." Zane immediately shut down again, and Deity looked so..confused. Did he really want to be shut off? She flipped the power switch again-and watched Zane stare at her in total silence. Did he look hurt? It was hard to tell, since he was in the middle of booting up. Then he shut himself down again. She frowned a little when he did this, watching him. "Zane..what's wrong? Do you not want to talk to me..?" Deity bit her lip, flipping the switch again. Maybe it was her fault. Zane let a sad chuckle leave his throat. "Hahah..I see.." The ice droid shuts himself down again. "Zane, come on, let me explain-" Her throat hurts now-she feels like she might cry. She shakily flips with switch again, watching Zane tilt his head at her. "Why do you keep powering me on, expecting something? You **hate** me." Deity stares at Zane in disbelief, shaking her head. "No Zane, I never hated-" Her words are cut off by Zane shutting himself down again.

Her eyes sting-she can feel tears welling up at the edge of her eyes. Did Zane really think she hated him? Deity felt a little neglected and left behind, sure-he'd not talked to her or even really acknowledged her presence in six months. But she still **loved** her brother..Deity frowned and pressed the switch again, going to speak but Zane cuts her off with his own words. He looks hurt-and a little confused as to why she kept trying. "Perhaps you wish to torture me?" The metallic voice of the ice droid asked, watching Deity. "Like I tormented you, for all those months? I broke a promise. _**Our**_ promise. I don't deserve to live- not when I have broken a promise that was so important to the both of us." She could hear the hurt in Zane's voice. "Za-" He cut her off again. "I don't deserve to live, when I've hurt you this badly. The one person who _used_ to call me human. I am ..a monster." Deity looked visibly confused at his words, then tensed up and her eyes began to widen when Zane slipped his fingers around his power source, tugging at it. Deity is in shock of what is transpiring before her, seeing Zane bite back the pained scream building in his throat. "Gh-" Zane grunts, trying not to scream as his body pops and sparks, each one more painful than the last while he tries to end his life by prying his power source from his body.

"Z..Zane don't-" There's that pain in her chest. Her heart hurts, seeing her brother this way. Why won't her body move?! He's hurting himself! "Why..why are you-" Was she **_that_** important to Zane..? He hadn't really shown it lately but..Deity moves toward him as he takes a breath and begins to tug again. She tugs the sand covered droid into her arm, keeping him close and groaning when a sharp jolt of electricity runs through the both of them. "Zane you gotta stop, Ice Cube..Pleas- _ **HRK!"**_ Another tug sends a particularly sharp bolt through the both of them, and Deity is panting as she feels Zane's body suddenly go limp. Did he do it? Was he..dead? She slowly pried herself away from the droid and looked down into his chest panel. His power source was barely a few inches out-but it seemed his body couldn't take the last shock-he'd shocked himself into a forced shut down. Did..Did she have her radio? She couldn't carry Zane all the way back to where the ship was parked-all the way in the city. Not even if her leg was fine and she had two arms! Deity patted herself down, relief flooding her mind when she felt the radio in her pocket. It was pretty busted up, but she could get it to work. Before she pressed the button, the rough voice of her wonderful rock came through. "Deity? Does your radio work? Where are you..? It's been three days, and my bike is gone, you didn't pack much and Zane is gone too-" Deity cut him off by pressing the button down on her radio. "I'm..I'm okay. I need a pick up. Zane and I are pretty badly hurt." Cole's voice responds, and he sounds a bit worried. "Alright just.. just sit tight alright? It'll take a day, I think..if we run the thrusters at a moderate power level." Deity looks at the limp droid in her arms. He's clearly not dead if his power source is still attached. "Yeah..Yeah I think I can handle it." Her last words as she stops her radio feed to conserve power make Cole physically flinch on the other end, but he knows she means that she's strong-and that she loves him.

 _ **"I've been through worse, haven't I Rock Monster?"**_


End file.
